Super-duper microscope

It looks like a somewhat oversized coffee maker. It produces some pretty hot stuff. And it’s probably easier to operate than one of those steaming espresso machines.

But instead of cranking out lattes, this machine is a microscope that produces pictures magnified up to 20,000 times.

The microscope, made by the Oregon-based company FEI, is called Phenom and is aimed at industrial users and academics. There are microscopes that can magnify objects even more, but the company claims that at this price point — $72,000 — few can compete in terms of resolution, magnification or speed. And, unlike other microscopes with this kind of power, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist

to operate it.

“A 12-year old kid could learn how to use this in two minutes, although this is a very advanced microscope. Because it’s so easy to use, I think this can help produce new scientists,” said Don Kania, CEO of FEI.

An operational touch-screen is the key to its ease of use. At a demonstation earlier this week at the Exploratorium here in San Francisco, a company rep put some fruit flies in the microscope, about 1 millimeter long. By touching the flat screen, you can examine the whole physique of the insects, zooming in closer and closer. When we hit the maximum, 20,000 times magnification, it is even possible to study the orange peel-like structure of the flies’ compound eyes.

For any student of biology, this would be of great help, which is way FEI count on marketing this tool to universities around the nation. But the hopes reach far beyond that: FEI claims that the Phenom will do for microscopy what personal computers did for office efficiency.

“Globally, this is a $200 million market. We want to get 20 percent or more of that share,” said Don Kania.

With the help of this microscope, you can check water quality — looking for bacteria or plankton in a matter of minutes, search for allergens such as pollen, and identify bacteria in contaminated food. Forensics is another field where this machine could come in handy — gun powder residue is hard to wash off and can easily be detected. In mining, the microscope can also be of help in detecting valuable minerals or metals and thus optimizing yield.

“Everything is getting smaller now. I can’t think of one industry that isn’t interested in making things smaller. It can be semiconductors or literally anything in the high-tech industry,” said Don Kania.

FEI has invested more than two years of research to develop the Phenom. Don Kania declined to say exactly how much money has been poured into the project, but said it was “millions of dollars.”